A dishwasher is a home appliance that removes impurities remaining on objects to be washed by spraying wash water to the objects to be washed. The dishwasher ac-commodates the objects to be washed (e.g. dishes) in a washing space, and thereafter removes scraps remaining on the objects to be washed using wash water. The dishwasher may perform drying of the objects to be washed if desired.
In other words, the dishwasher is a home appliance that washes food residue adhered to the surface of dishes using high-pressure wash water sprayed from spray nozzles. The dishwasher is provided with, for example, a tub, which defines the washing space, and a sump, which is mounted to the lower surface of the tub for storing wash water therein. The dishwasher performs a washing operation, a rinsing operation, and a drying operation in sequence.
Meanwhile, when the dishwasher has a drying function, the dishwasher is provided with a dryer, which supplies heated air to the inside of the tub so as to remove moisture remaining on the dishes. The dryer may include, for example, a heater to heat air, and a blowing fan to blow the air heated by the heater. In addition, in order to dehumidify humid air during drying, zeolite or a heat pump system is generally used.
FIG. 1 is a schematic view illustrating the internal configuration of a conventional dishwasher.
Referring to FIG. 1, the conventional dishwasher 1 generally includes a tub 10 providing a washing space, a door 20 provided on the front of the tub 10 for opening or closing the washing space, a rack 80 provided in the tub 10 for accommodating an object to be washed, an upper spray arm 91 and a lower spray arm 92 for spraying wash water to the rack 80, a sump 30 for storing wash water, and a pump 40 for supplying the wash water stored in the sump 30 to the spray arms 91 and 92.
The rack 80 may be comprised of an upper rack 81 and a lower rack 82. The upper rack 81 and the lower rack 82 may be provided with support rails (not illustrated), and the tub 10 may be provided on the inner circumferential surface thereof with support rail guides (not illustrated), so that the upper rack 81 and the lower rack 82 may be pulled forward from the tub 10.
The wash water, stored in the sump 30, is discharged through the pump 40. The discharged wash water is supplied to a lower flow-path 60, which transfers the wash water to the lower rack 82, and is also supplied to a water guide 70, which transfers the wash water to the upper rack 81. The wash water, supplied to the water guide 70, passes through a supply unit 200 and is transferred to the upper spray arm 91.
Meanwhile, in the conventional dishwasher 1, the upper rack 81 may be separably provided at different heights inside the tub 10, which may allow a user to appropriately utilize the space inside the tub 10 as needed.
In addition, the supply unit 200 may be separably coupled to the water guide 70 at different heights as the upper rack 81 is moved, in order to ensure the efficient washing of dishes accommodated in the upper rack 81.
FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating the supply unit 200 and the water guide 70 of the conventional dishwasher 1. Referring to FIG. 2, the supply unit 200 of the conventional dishwasher 1 includes a connection member 300, which is coupled to the water guide 70 in order to allow the supply unit 200 to be separably coupled to the water guide 70.
The supply unit 200 of the conventional dishwasher 1 is provided with an insertion portion 210 so as to be coupled to the connection member 300, and the connection member 300 has a plurality of insertion holes 310, into which the protruding insertion portion 210 may be inserted. The insertion holes 310 may be formed at different heights in order to allow the supply unit 200 to be separably coupled to the water guide 70 at different heights.
Meanwhile, the conventional dishwasher 1 has a problem whereby the protruding insertion portion 210 may not be inserted into the insertion hole 310 when the supply unit 200 is tilted vertically or horizontally relative to the water guide 70 upon insertion.
In particular, when the supply unit 200 is coupled to the upper rack 81, the user may fail to smoothly insert the protruding insertion portion 210 of the supply unit 200 into the insertion hole 310 because the upper rack 81 is tilted upward or downward. In this case, even if the protruding insertion portion 210 of the supply unit 200 is completely inserted into the insertion hole 310, the supply unit 200 may not be fixed to the insertion hole 310.
In addition, the conventional dishwasher 1 has a problem in which it has no means capable of preventing the user from inserting the supply unit 200 into an undesired insertion hole 310, in which case the supply unit 200 may not be inserted into the correct position.
Moreover, because the leakage of wash water may occur between the water guide 70 and the connection member 300 when the supply unit 200 is not inserted into the insertion hole 310 at the correct position, the conventional dishwasher 1 may suffer from deterioration in washing efficiency attributable to a reduction in the pressure and flow rate of wash water to be supplied to the upper spray arm 91.
In addition, the conventional dishwasher 1 includes a sealing member (not illustrated), which is formed of a rubber material and takes the form of a bellows having prescribed elasticity, in order to prevent the leakage of wash water from between the supply unit 200 and the water guide 70 when the supply unit 200 is installed to the water guide 70.
However, the conventional sealing member, which takes the form of a rubber bellows, may cause abnormal noises due to the interference of creases forming the bellows when the supply unit 200 and the water guide 70 are coupled to each other.
In addition, the position at which the supply unit 200 and the water guide 70 are coupled to each other may be changed depending on the position at which the upper rack 81 is mounted, and wash water may leak from between the supply unit 200 and the water guide 70 depending on the installed state of the sealing member.